Jetboat Pros And Cons

[moguy1973]

This is sickning, a boat that big shouldn't be on a small river like that...

[Smalliebigs]

I like this one Jim, myself......I like the sound of the rock right as he turns thru there.......goofy clowns

http://youtu.be/eKWSCH4iDPo

[moguy1973]

I like this one Jim, myself......I like the sound of the rock right as he turns thru there.......goofy clowns

Yeah, that's not doing any damage to the rive banks

[Al Agnew]

Good thing we are free to share our opinion. I dont run any other rivers in MO other than the 11pt(yet) so I dont know about the pressure ya'll do. The way everyone talks the bank erosion is caused totaly by jet boats, and rainfall has nothing to do with erosion. My boat throws about a 4-6" wake while on plane. I just have a 1448 with a 25hp merc.

I will admit that I get a thrill running up shoals and close to big rocks in my little boat. I don't just run around in creeks and rivers just to do it.

Wayne had a good point that I hadn't thought of about the direction of the wakes. But also, consider this:

It's obvious that the power of boat wakes is miniscule compared to the power of a big flood. However, there is another big difference between floods and wakes. The energy of a big flood is spread out and up and down over a large area. If the river is up ten feet, the energy of the flood on any given piece of bank is spread from the top of the bank (with a lot of energy being dispersed above the bank as the water overtops the bank) all the way down to the bottom of the river. On the other hand, the energy from boat wakes is concentrated in a very narrow (less than a foot ) vertical zone along the water's edge. And while a big flood might happen once or twice a year for a couple days, if the river gets a lot of boat traffic, those wakes are pounding that very narrow zone of bank over and over again every warm weekend and often during the week as well.

And it's not the wakes themselves that really do the obvious damage. I would submit that it's the combination of wakes and floods. A healthy river is flood resistant; most of it changes very little with floods, because its banks are stable and held together by vegetation, tree roots, and big rocks. As long as the banks are stable, they withstand floods. But, I think it is possible that boat wakes pounding that one tiny zone over and over again will cause "weak points", loosening the vegetation, loosening the gravel, and giving floods points where they can attack those weak points. Anybody who has ever driven out onto a gravel bar knows that the surface layer of undisturbed gravel is usually quite solid, and can be driven over carefully, but if you break through that "cemented" surface layer, all of a sudden you're in loose gravel underneath it and buried up to your axles. Everybody who spends time on rivers will also notice that once a single tree goes along a tree-lined bank, the loose soil behind it starts getting eroded and other trees start going, and pretty soon the bank is washed out for a long distance. I think it's possible that boat wakes can be the forces that loosen the gravel and loosen small sections of tree roots, and then the next flood has a point of attack where it can really do damage.

I've talked to a number of old guys (older than me) who have spent a lot of time on the Current or Meramec for many years, and they all believe that bank erosion has gotten much worse since the advent of jetboats on these rivers. Many sections are simply a lot wider and shallower, and the gravel has been moving a lot more, in the last 20-30 years.

[Chief Grey Bear]

That's his point, jets can't go thru

And niether will all trees and brush that get washed down. You have now created a dam that would make any beaver envious.

And it's not the wakes themselves that really do the obvious damage. I would submit that it's the combination of wakes and floods.

Take a look at some of the banks on lakes that take a beating not only from boat traffic but, from the waves from wind that are constantly beating it. Trees are are undercut and falling in too. And floods have zero erosion effect on lake banks.

Those old timers you spoke to understand the problem. And they are spot on too.